Image QualityChapter 3

Biomedical EngineeringDr. Mohamed Bingabr

University of Central Oklahoma

Image Quality Factors

1. Contrast2. Resolution3. Noise4. Artifacts5. Distortion6. Accuracy

ContrastDifferences between image intensity of an object and surrounding objects or background.

How to quantify contrast for image f(x, y)?

Modulation

𝑚𝑓=𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑥− 𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑥+ 𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛

0 ≤𝑚𝑓 ≤1

𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=𝐴+𝐵sin (2𝜋𝑢0𝑥)

𝑚𝑓=𝐵𝐴

Output Image Modulation

𝑚𝑓=𝐵𝐴

𝑔 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=𝐴𝐻 (0 , 0)+𝐵|𝐻 (𝑢0 , 0 )|sin (2𝜋𝑢0 𝑥)

𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=𝐴+𝐵sin (2𝜋𝑢0𝑥)

𝑚𝑔=𝐵|𝐻 (𝑢0 , 0 )|𝐴𝐻 (0 , 0)

=𝑚 𝑓

|𝐻 (𝑢0 , 0 )|𝐻 (0 , 0)

Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)

0 ≤𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 )≤𝑀𝑇𝐹 ( 0 )=1

The MTF quantifies degradation of contrast as a function of spatial frequency.

For most medical imaging

𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 )=𝑚𝑔

𝑚𝑓

=|𝐻 (𝑢 ,0 )|𝐻 (0 ,0)

Isotropic system

Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)

ExampleWhat can we learn about the contrast behavior of an imaging system with this MTF?

inputoutput

u = 0.3

u = 0.5

u = 0.7

Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)

MTF for Nonisotropic System

The MTF for nonisotropic system (PSF changes with orientation) has an orientation-dependence response.

𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 ,𝑣 )=𝑚𝑔

𝑚 𝑓

=|𝐻 (𝑢 ,𝑣 )|𝐻 (0 ,0)

0 ≤𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 ,𝑣 ) ≤𝑀𝑇𝐹 (0,0 )=1

For most nonisotropic medical imaging

Local Contrast

Detecting a tumor in a liver requires local contrast.

𝐶=𝑓 𝑡− 𝑓 𝑏𝑓 𝑏

Example

Consider an image showing an organ with intensity I0 and a tumor with intensity It > I0. What is the local contrast of the tumor? If we add a constant intensity Ic > 0 to the image, what is the local contrast? Is the local contrast improved?

Resolution• The ability of a medical imaging system to

accurately depict two distinct events in space, time, or frequency as separate.

• Resolution could be spatial, temporal, or spectral resolution.

• High resolution is equivalent to low smearing

Line Spread Function (LSF)

Line impulse (line source) A vertical line impulse through the origin (θ = 0; l = 0)

The output g(x, y) of isotropic system for the input f(x, y) is

𝑔 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=∫− ∞

∞

∫− ∞

∞

h (𝜉 ,𝜂 ) 𝑓 (𝑥−𝜉 , 𝑦−𝜂 ) 𝑑𝜉 𝑑𝜂

¿∫− ∞

∞ [∫−∞

∞

h (𝜉 ,𝜂 )𝛿𝑙 (𝑥−𝜉 )𝑑𝜉 ]𝑑𝜂¿∫

− ∞

∞

h (𝑥 ,𝜂)𝑑𝜂 Line spread function (LSF)

Line Spread Function (LSF)

𝑙 (𝑥 )=∫− ∞

∞

h(𝑥 ,𝜂)𝑑𝜂

Line spread function l(x) is related to the PSF h(x, y)

Since the PSF h(x, y) is isotropic then l(x) is symmetric l(x) = l(-x)

The 1-D Fourier transform L(u) of the LSF l(x) is

L(u) = H(u, 0)

𝐿(𝑢)=∫− ∞

∞

𝑙(𝑥)𝑒− 𝑗 2𝜋𝑢𝑥𝑑𝑥

𝐿(𝑢)=∫− ∞

∞

∫− ∞

∞

h(𝑥 ,𝜂)𝑒− 𝑗2 𝜋𝑢𝑥𝑑𝑥𝑑𝜂

l(x)

Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM)

The FWHM of LSF (or PSF) is used to quantify resolution of medical imaging.

The FWHM is the (full) width of the LSF (or the PSF) at one-half its maximum value. FWHM is measured in mm.

The FWHM equals the minimum distance that two lines (or point) must be separated in space in order to appear as separate in the recording image.

Resolution & Modulation Transfer Fun.For a sinusoidal input the spatial resolution is 1/u.

𝑔 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=|𝐻 (𝑢 ,0 )|𝐵 sin (2𝜋 𝑢𝑥)

𝑔 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )=𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢)𝐻 (0,0)𝐵 sin (2𝜋𝑢𝑥)

The spatial frequency of the output depends on MTF cutoff frequency uc.

Example:The MTF depicted in the Figure becomes zero at spatial frequencies larger than 0.8 mm-1. What is the resolution of the system?

Resolution & Modulation Transfer Fun.Two systems with similar MTF curves but with different cutoff frequencies will have different resolutions, where MTF with higher cutoff frequency will have better resolution.

It is complicated to use MTF to compare the frequency resolutions of two systems with different MTF curves.

Resolution & Modulation Transfer Fun.

Example: Sometimes, the PSF, LSF, or MTF can be described by a mathematical function by either fitting observed data or by making simplifying assumptions about the shape. Assume that the MTF of a medical imaging system is given by.

𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 )=𝑒−𝜋𝑢2

What is the FWHM of this system?

MTF can be directly obtained from the LSF.

𝑀𝑇𝐹 (𝑢 )=|𝐿 (𝑢 )|𝐿(0)

for every u

Subsystem CascadeIf resolution is quantified by FWHM, then the FWHM of the overall system (cascaded subsystems) is determined by

𝑅=√𝑅12+𝑅2

2+…+𝑅𝐾2

The overall resolution of the system is determined by the poorest resolution of the subsystems (largest Ri) .

If contrast and resolution are quantified using the MTF, then the MTF of the overall system will be given by

Subsystem Cascade

Resolution can depend on spatial and orientation, such ultrasound images.

The MTF of the overall system will always be less than the MTF of each subsystem.

Subsystem Cascade

Example 3.5: Consider a 1-D medical imaging system with PSF h(x) composed of two subsystems with Gaussian PSFs of the form

h1 (𝑥 )= 1√2𝜋 𝜎1

exp {−𝑥2

2𝜎12 } h2 (𝑥 )= 1

√2𝜋 𝜎2

exp{−𝑥2

2𝜎22 }

What is the FWHM of this system?

Hint: from example 2.4

h1 (𝑥 )∗h2 (𝑥 )= 1

√2𝜋 (𝜎12+𝜎2

2 )exp { −𝑥2

2 (𝜎12+𝜎2

2 ) }

Resolution Tool (bar phantom)

Line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm)

Noise

Noise is any random fluctuation in an image; noise generally interferes with the ability to detect a signal in an image.

Source and amount of noise depend on the imaging method used and the particular medical imaging system at hand.

Example of source of noise: random arrival of photon in x-ray, random emission of gamma ray photon in nuclear imaging, thermal noise during amplifying radio frequency in MRI.

Noise

Random VariablesDifferent repetitions of an experiment may produce different observed values. These values is the random variable.

Probability Distribution Function (PDF) 𝑃𝑁 (𝜂 )=Pr [𝑁 ≤𝜂 ]

Continuous Random VariablesProbability density function (pdf)

𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 )=𝑑𝑃𝑁(𝜂)𝑑𝜂

𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 ) ≥ 0 ∫− ∞

∞

𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 )𝑑𝜂=1

𝑃𝑁 (𝜂)=∫−∞

𝜂

𝑝𝑁 (𝑢 )𝑑𝑢

Expected Value (mean) 𝜇𝑁=𝐸 [𝑁 ]=∫− ∞

∞

𝜂𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 )𝑑𝜂

Variance

𝜎𝑁2 =Var [𝑁 ]=𝐸[ (𝑁−𝜇𝑁 )2]=∫

− ∞

∞

(𝜂−𝜇𝑁 )2𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 ) 𝑑𝜂

Uniform Random VariableProbability density function ( pdf )

The probability distribution function (PDF)

𝑃𝑁 (𝜂 )={ 0 , for  η<𝑎𝜂−𝑎𝑏−𝑎

, for 𝑎≤𝜂<𝑏

1 ,                  for   η>𝑏

𝜇𝑁=𝑎+𝑏

2𝜎𝑁

2 =(𝑏−𝑎)2

12

Gaussian Random VariableProbability density function (pdf)

The probability distribution function

𝜇𝑁=𝜇

𝜎𝑁2 =𝜎2

𝑝𝑁 (𝜂 )= 1

√2𝜋𝜎 2𝑒− (𝜂 −𝜇 )2 /2𝜎 2

𝑃𝑁 (𝜂 )=∫− ∞

𝜂1

√2𝜋 𝜎2𝑒

−¿ ¿

¿

𝑃𝑁 (𝜂 )=12+erf (𝜂−𝜇

𝜎 )

erf (𝑥 )= 2√𝜋∫

0

𝑥

𝑒−𝑡 2

𝑑𝑡

Discrete Random VariablesProbability mass function (pmf)

The probability distribution function

𝜇𝑁=𝐸 [𝑁 ]=∑𝑖=1

𝑘

𝜂𝑖Pr [𝑁=𝜂𝑖 ]

𝑃𝑁 (𝜂 )=Pr [𝑁 ≤𝜂 ]= ∑all  𝜂 𝑖=𝜂

Pr [𝑁 ≤𝜂𝑖 ]

0 ≤ Pr [𝑁=𝜂 𝑖 ] ≤1 ,      for   𝑖=1,2,3 , …,𝑘

∑𝑖=1

𝑘

Pr [𝑁=𝜂𝑖 ]=1

Poisson Random Variables

𝜎𝑁2 =Var [𝑁 ]=E [ (𝑁−𝜇𝑁 )2 ]=∑

𝑖=1

𝑘

(𝜂 𝑖−𝜇𝑁 )2 Pr [𝑁=𝜂 𝑖 ]

Poisson Random Variable

Pr [𝑁=𝑘 ]=𝑎𝑘

𝑘! 𝑒−𝑎 ,     for  𝑘=0,1 ,…

𝜇𝑁=𝑎 𝜎𝑁2 =𝑎

Used in radiographic and nuclear medicine to statically characterize the distribution of photons count.

Poisson Random VariablesExampleIn x-ray imaging, the Poisson random variable is used to model the number of photon that arrive at a detector in time t, which is a random variable referred to as a Poisson process and given that notation N(t). The PMF of N(t) is given by

Pr [𝑁 (𝑡)=𝑘 ]=(𝜆𝑡)𝑘

𝑘! 𝑒−𝜆𝑡

Where λ is called the average rate of the x-ray photons.

What is the probability that there is no photon detected in time t?

Exponential Random VariablesExampleFor the Poisson process of previous example, the time that the first photon arrives is a random variable, say T.

What is the pdf of a random variable T?

𝑝𝑇 (𝑡)=𝜆𝑒−𝜆𝑡

This is the pdf of exponential random variable T

Independent Random VariablesIt is usual in imaging experiments to consider more than one random variable at a time.

The sum S of the random variable N1, N2, …, Nm is a random variable with pdf

𝜇𝑠=𝜇1+𝜇2+…+𝜇𝑚 Random variables are not necessary independent

𝜎 𝑆2 =𝜎1

2+𝜎22+…+𝜎𝑚

2

When random variables are independent

𝑝𝑆 (𝜂 )=𝑝1 (𝜂 )∗𝑝2 (𝜂 )∗…∗𝑝𝑚(𝜂)

Independent Random VariablesExample:Consider the sum S of two independent Gaussian random variables N1 and N2, each having a mean of zero and variance of σ2.

What are the mean, variance, and pdf of the resulting random variable?

Signal-to-Noise Ration (SNR)The output of a medical imaging system g is a random variable that consists of two components f (deterministic signal) and g (random noise).

Amplitude SNR

Example:In projection radiography, the number of photons G counted per unit area by an x-ray image intensifier follows a Poisson distribution. In this case we may consider signal f to be the average photon count per unit area (i.e., the mean of G) and noise N to be the random variation of this count around the mean, whose amplitude is quantified by the standard deviation of G.

What is the amplitude SNR of such a system?

𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑎=Amplituude  ( 𝑓 )Amplituude   (𝑁 )

Power SNR

Example:If f(x, y) is the input to a noisy medical imaging system with PSF h(x, y), then output at (x, y) maybe thought of as a random variable G(x, y) composed of signalh(x, y)*f(x, y) and noise N(x, y), with mean µN(x, y) and variance .

What is the power SNR of such a system?

𝑆𝑁𝑅 𝑃=Power  ( 𝑓 )Power  (𝑁 )

Answer depends on the nature of the noise:1- White noise2- wide-sense stationary noise

Differential SNR

ft and fb are the average image intensities within the target and background, respectively. A is the area of the target. C is the contrast.Noise: random fluctuation of image intensity from its mean over an area A of the background.

𝑆𝑁𝑅diff=𝐴 ( 𝑓 𝑡− 𝑓 𝑏)𝜎𝑏(𝐴)

𝑆𝑁𝑅diff=𝐶𝐴 𝑓 𝑏𝜎𝑏 (𝐴)

Expressing SNR in decibels dB

SNR (in dB) = 20 x log10 SNR (ratio of amplitude) SNR (in dB) = 10 x log10 SNR (ratio of power)

Differential SNR

Example: consider the case of projection radiography. We may take fb to be the average photon count per unit area in the background region around a target, in which case fb = λb, where λb is the mean of the underlying Poisson distribution governing the number of background photons count per unit area. Notice that, in this case, .

What is the average number of background photons counted per unit area, if we want to achieve a desirable differential SNR?

Sampling

Given a 2-D continuous signal f(x, y), rectangular sampling generate a 2-D discrete signal fd(m, n), such that

for m, n = 0, 1, …Δx and Δy are the sampling periods in the x and y directions, respectively.

The inverse 1/Δx and 1/Δy are the sampling frequencies in the x and y directions, respectively.

What are the maximum possible values for Δx and Δy such that f(x, y) can be reconstructed from the 2-D discrete signal fd(m, n)?

Sampling

Aliasing : When higher frequencies “take the alias of” lower frequencies due to under-sampling.

Sampling

(a) Original chest x-ray image and sampled images, (b) without, and (c) with anti-aliasing

Signal Mode for SamplingSampling is the multiplication of the continuous signal f(x, y) by the sampling function

𝑓 𝑠(𝑥 , 𝑦 )= 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )𝛿𝑠(𝑥 , 𝑦 ; ∆𝑥 , ∆ 𝑦 )

𝑓 𝑠(𝑥 , 𝑦 )= ∑𝑚=− ∞

∞

∑𝑛=− ∞

∞

𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )𝛿(𝑥−𝑚∆ 𝑥 , 𝑦−𝑛∆ 𝑦 )

𝑓 𝑠(𝑥 , 𝑦 )= ∑𝑚=− ∞

∞

∑𝑛=− ∞

∞

𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 )1

∆𝑥 ∆ 𝑦𝑒𝑗2𝜋 (𝑚𝑥∆𝑥

+ 𝑛𝑦∆ 𝑦 )

𝐹 𝑠(𝑢 ,𝑣 )= 1∆𝑥 ∆ 𝑦 ∑

𝑚=−∞

∞

∑𝑛=− ∞

∞

𝐹 (𝑢−𝑚/∆ 𝑥 ,𝑣−𝑛 /∆ 𝑦 )

Use Fourier series to represent the periodic impulses.

Use frequency shifting property.

Nyquist Sampling Theorem𝐹 𝑠(𝑢 ,𝑣 )= 1

∆𝑥 ∆ 𝑦 ∑𝑚=−∞

∞

∑𝑛=− ∞

∞

𝐹 (𝑢−𝑚/∆ 𝑥 ,𝑣−𝑛 /∆ 𝑦 )

Sampling rate in y =

Sampling rate in x =

Anti-Aliasing FiltersThe image is passed through low-pass filter to eliminate high frequency components and then it can be sampled at lower sampling rate. The sampling rate equals or more than twice the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter. This way aliasing will be eliminated but the low pass filtering introduces blurring in the image.ExampleConsider a medical imaging system with sampling period Δ in both the x and y directions. What is the highest frequency allowed in the images so that the sampling is free of aliasing? If an anti-aliasing filter, whose PSF is modeled as a rect function, is used and we ignored all the side lobes of its transfer function, what are the widths of the rect function?

Problem 3.22

Other EffectsArtifactsThe creation of image features that do not represent valid anatomical or functional objects.

Examples of artifacts in CT: (a) motion artifact, (b) star artifact, (c) ring artifact, and (d) beam hardening artifact

Other EffectsDistortion is geometrical in nature and refers to the inability of a medical imaging system to give an accurate impression of the shape, size, and/or position of objects of interest.

AccuracyAccuracy of medical image is judged by its ability in helping diagnosis, prognosis, treatment planning, and treatment monitoring. Here “accuracy” means both conforming to truth (free from error) and clinical utility. The two components of accuracy are quantitative accuracy and diagnostic accuracy.

Quantitative AccuracyQuantitative Accuracy refers to the accuracy, compared with the truth, of numerical values obtained from an image.Source of Error1- bias: systematic error2- imprecision: random error

Diagnostic AccuracyDiagnostic Accuracy refers to the accuracy of interpretations and conclusions about the presence or absence of disease drawn from image patterns.

Diagnostic accuracy in clinical setting1. Sensitivity (true-positive fraction): fraction of

patients with disease who the test calls abnormal.2. Specificity (true-negative fraction): fraction of

patients without disease who the test calls normal.

Sensitivity and Specificitya and b, respectively, are the number of diseased and normal patients who the test calls abnormal.c and d, respectively, are the number of diseased and normal patients who the test calls normal.

Sensitivity

Specificity

Diagnostic Accuracy (DA)

b

c

Maximizing Diagnostic AccuracyBecause of overlap in the distribution of parameters values between normal and diseased patients, a threshold must be established to call a study abnormal such that both sensitivity and specificity are maximized.

Choice of Threshold1. Relative cost of error2. Prevalence: is a statistical

concept referring to the number of cases of a disease that are present in a particular population at a given time

PR

Diagnostic Accuracy

Two other parameters in evaluating diagnostic accuracy:1. Positive predictive value (PPV): fraction of patients

called abnormal who actually have the disease.2. Negative predictive value (NPV); fraction of persons

called normal who do not have the disease.

PPV

NPV

c

b

Diagnostic Accuracy is not EnoughExample:Consider a group of 100 patients, among which 10 are diseased and 90 are normal. We simply label all patients as normal. Construct the contingency table for this test and determine the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of the test.

Problem 3.21